1. Understanding the Relationship between Beliefs and Attitudes
of Explicit Material and Religion
Ashlee Jayne, M.S., Christopher N. Jayne, M.S., Brent W. Schneider, M.A., Tonya Hammer, PhD, and Randolph Hubach, PhD, MPH
Oklahoma State University
Introduction
Results
It has been identified that 90% of adolescents and teenagers have access to the internet, as well as, 20% of males ages intentionally use their internet access to view explicit material (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005). When looking at consumption rates of internet pornography, 26%of college students consume a M=74 minutes a week (Short, Kasper, & Wetterneck, 2015). Wright (2013) identified that 36% of adult males, M=44.73 age, reported have viewed at least 1 pornographic film in the last 12 months.
Some religious leaders view pornography consumption, in any form, as a problem for the church and a person, as viewing pornography may show a lack of self-control and therefore diminishes ones views of sexuality (Ford, 2009). Perry (2015) suggest that the increase in pornography of parents may also decrease the time that parents spend socializing their children in religious settings. Short, Kasper, and Wtterneck (2015) identified that non-religious individuals consume more minutes of pornography a week than their religious peers.
Willoughby, Carroll, Nelson, & Padilla-Walker (2014) suggest a positive correlation between pornography consumption and sexual risk taking behavior among college aged adults. Contrary to these findings, Wright (2013) found that adult men where slightly more inclined to report condom use during sexual encounters.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between religiosity, feelings of pornographic consumption, and overall feelings towards sexuality.
Descriptives and Bivariate Correlations:
The table below presents the means, standard deviation, and bivariate correlations between the measures.
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. ATSS --
2. Harmful
-.581*
3. Positive
.599*
-.543*
4. Restrict
-.639*
.649*
-.806*
5. RES
-.407*
.285*
-.274*
.260*
6. Rel Hope
-.278*
.203*
-.206*
.178*
.318*
7. Rel Inv
.652*
-.510*
.488*
-.509*
-.434*
-.386*
8. Rel Inf
-.724*
.468*
-.489*
.490*
.522*
-.773
Mean
41.96
30.43
21.20
17.36
40.33
28.88
11.87
17.59 SD
10.20
7.72
6.20
4.35
15.32
4.76
4.16
6.10
Note. * = p < .01; ATSS = Attitudes Towards Sexuality Scale; RES = Religious Emphasis Scale; Rel Hope = Religious Hope; Rel Inv = Religious Involvement; Rel Inf = Religious Influence
Regression Analysis:
To understand the relationship between the measures, Attitudes Towards Erotica Scale with subsequent : Harmful Effects, Positive Effects, and Restriction, Religious Emphasis Scale, Religiousness Measure with subsequent subscales: Religious Hope, Religious Involvement, and Religious Influence were entered into a stepwise regression analysis as independent variables with Attitudes Towards Sexuality Scale serving as the dependent variable. Stepwise regression was used because there was no prior theory regarding the composition of Attitudes Towards Sexuality Scale. Three significant models emerged with the final model accounting for 64.2% of the variance. The following table presents the standardized and unstandardized beta weighs for the three equations.
Methods
Recruitment:
307 participants were recruited from Oklahoma State University SONA system for class credit. The sample was gathered during the 2015 – 2016 school year.
Participants:
Variable N
Age:
M = years (5.89)
Range = 18 – 59
Sex:
Female
Male
209 (68.1%)
98 (31.9%)
Sexual Orientation:
Lesbian
Gay
Bisexual
Heterosexual
Other 3 9
290 2
Race:
Asian/Asian American
African/African American/Black
Caucasian/White
Latino/a
Native Am. /Am. Indian/Alaska Native
Biracial/Multiracial 7 22
227 24 12 6
Relationship Status:
Single
Dating
Engaged
Married
Partnered
Divorced
145
114 30
Primary Religious Affiliation:
No Religious Affiliation
Agnostic
Baptist
Church of Christ
Methodist
Muslim
Non-Denominational
Roman Catholic
Spiritual not Religious 16 10 69 34 73 36 37
Variable B
SE B 𝛃 R2
ΔR2
Model 1
.524 --
Constant
63.136
1.235
Rel Inf Total
-1.208
.066
-.724
Model 2
.629
.105
72.874
1.522
-.901
.068
-.540
Restrict Total
-.872
.095
-.372
Model 3
.642
.014
74.749
1.597
-.848
-.508
-.672
.111
-.287
Harmful Total
-.206
.061
-.157
Note: Rel Inf Total = Religious Influence Total
Measures:
Demographic Information
Age, sex, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, highest level of education completed, relationship status, frequency of religious attendance, and frequency of pornography consumption
Attitudes Towards Sexuality Scale (ATSS)
Fisher & Hall, 1988
13 Items; self-report
Attitudes Towards Erotica Questionnaire
Lottes and Weinberg, 1993
21 Items; self report
Subscales: harmful effects, positive effects, and restriction
Religious Emphasis Scale (RES)
Altemeyer, 1988
10 Items; self-report
Religiousness Measure
Sethi & Seligman, 1993
17 Items; self-repot
Subscales: religious hope, religious involvement, and religious influence
Religious Attendance
Participants reported “A few times a month” and “Once a Week” at a rate of 25.4% and 21.2%, respectively.
Pornography Consumption
93.9% of men and 58% of women reported having viewed some medium of pornography in their lifetime.
Conclusion
The findings of the current study indicate that there is a negative coloration between overall feelings towards sexual related topics (i.e., abortion, pornography, nudity, premarital sex, etc.) and the feeling that erotica is harmful and that it should be more restricted. In conjunction, the higher the feelings towards the positive effects of pornography the greater the attitudes towards sexual topics. There is a positive correlation between religious involvement and attitudes towards sexual topics, as these results differ from the two other subscales of the Religiousness Measures which also evaluate the influence and hope one has within their given religion. This finding might be due to moral values or acceptance which are at the center of many differing religious sects, however further evaluation is needed to identify the validity of this emerging hypothesis. The regression analysis revealed that the religious influence, restriction, and pornography as harmful account for 64.2% of the variance, suggesting that other factors (e.g., sex, age, etc.) may also play a role in individuals' attitudes toward sexuality related topics.
The current sample was taken from a Midwestern university, residing in the “Bible Belt.” The location of the institution may have effected results because of possible social perception toward religion and sexuality related topics. The sample is also primarily composed females, which effects the generalizability of the results. Future research should strive for a more representative sample. Future analyses could also include demographic variables to further explain individual’s attitudes to sexuality related topics as well as explore differences in different religious denominations.

2. References Ford, G. (2009). Fully Human. Mutuality, 16(1), 10-14
Perry, S. L. (2015). Pornography Consumption as a Threat to Religious Socialization. Sociology Of Religion, 76(4), 436. doi: /socrel/srv043
Short, M., Kasper, T., & Wetterneck, C. (2015). The Relationship Between Religiosity and Internet Pornography Use. Journal Of Religion & Health, 54(2), doi: /s
Willoughby, B. J., Carroll, J. S., Nelson, L. J., & Padilla-Walker, L. M. (2014). Associations between relational sexual behaviour, pornography use, and pornography acceptance among US college students. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 16(9), doi: /
Wright, P. J. (2013). U.S. Males and Pornography, 1973–2010: Consumption, Predictors, Correlates. Journal Of Sex Research, 50(1), doi: /
Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2005). Exposure to Internet Pornography among Children and Adolescents: A National Survey. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 8(5), doi: /cpb